South Africa's land reform project remains one of the most critical undertakings of our democracy. It is about justice, dignity and the promise of shared prosperity. Yet, three decades into the process, the country stands at a crossroads.
While more than eight million hectares of land have been transferred through restitution, redistribution and tenure reform, the reality on the ground is sobering: much of the land remains idle, underused or mired in conflict.
At the centre of this challenge lies the Communal Property Association — a legal vehicle created to enable collective ownership and management of land by formerly dispossessed communities. CPAs were created as a bridge between historical redress and economic inclusion.
Unfortunately, they have become sites of stagnation, conflict and missed opportunity.
From restitution to productivity
After 1994, South Africa adopted a three-pillar model for land reform: restitution, redistribution and tenure reform. These aimed to restore land rights and create opportunities for production, employment and investment. Yet, despite good intentions, implementation has faltered.
Recent findings by the auditor-general (2025), parliament's portfolio committee (2024) and the South African Human Rights Commission (2024) show a worrying pattern:
- Weak governance and poor financial controls in CPAs;
- Elite capture and political interference that sideline beneficiaries;
- Disempowered communities, often excluded from decision-making or deprived of transparency; and
- Underused land, lacking capital, technical expertise and market access.
The result is that CPAs, which should be catalysts for local growth, have become symbols of unrealised potential. This is a national economic issue. Fallow land means lost jobs, declining food security and eroded investor confidence.
Rural industrialisation
Despite the challenges, CPAs represent a powerful, untapped instrument for inclusive growth. With proper support and oversight, they can drive rural industrialisation, food security, tourism development, mining opportunities and renewable energy generation.
The National Development Plan 2030 Midterm Review identifies vast potential for high-value agriculture, agro-processing, eco-tourism and green-energy ventures on CPA land. Phahlane Group's engagements across Mpumalanga, Limpopo, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape and the Western Cape confirm this. We have seen communities eager to work, rich soils waiting to be cultivated and local enterprises ready to supply domestic and export markets.
What is missing is coordinated action and an enabling environment.
Imagine if CPA lands were transformed into clusters of agro-industrial hubs, producing citrus, macadamia, avocado and beef for domestic and export markets, while hosting solar and wind projects.
This is not a dream; it is an achievable pathway to jobs, food security and inclusive ownership.
The governance cap
The primary barrier is governance. Many CPAs operate without functioning executive committees, proper constitutions or audited accounts. Meetings are irregular, records are missing or unavailable and decision-making is monopolised by a few individuals. The auditor general's 2025 report found widespread non-compliance with constitutional and financial obligations. The PLAAS (2024) and SAHRC (2024) studies reveal how illiteracy and lack of oversight have allowed exploitation and manipulation.
This governance vacuum breeds vulnerability: private actors and political figures often insert themselves into CPAs, signing skewed joint-venture agreements that leave communities indebted and disillusioned. Unless addressed, this cycle will render land reform a permanent promise without delivery.
What needs to be done
It is time for a decisive, whole-of-government and private-sector response. Phahlane Group proposes six priority actions:
- Enforce governance and accountability: Introduce independent audits, transparent elections and annual public reporting for all CPAs;
- Empower communities: Launch national literacy and financial-management programmes to enable landowners to participate meaningfully in governance and negotiations;
- Standardise commercial partnerships: Require government-vetted, standard contract templates for CPA joint ventures and other forms of SPVs to prevent exploitation;
- Provide structured post-settlement support: Establish a dedicated CPA support fund combining public resources and blended finance for infrastructure, mechanisation and value-chain participation;
- Combat elite capture: Create an Ombud system for anti-corruption and oversight mechanisms in the Presidency; and
- Enable economic scaling: Aggregate CPA land into investment-ready zones for agro-industrial, tourism, mining and renewable-energy projects aligned with the District Development Model.
CPA revitalisation platform
To address the challenges and take advantage of the CPAs' potential, the government must drive the establishment of a National CPA Revitalisation Platform, a partnership forum uniting government, the private sector and CPAs to re-engineer CPAs into functional, investment-ready enterprises.
The platform should develop a National CPA Masterplan that integrates land reform with industrial policy and export strategy. It should also create a CPA Investment-Readiness Programme, capacitating associations to manage finances, meet compliance standards and attract credible partners.
By establishing CPA Agribusiness Clusters across provinces, South Africa could unlock thousands of jobs, increase food exports and restore confidence in the land-reform programme.
Reclaiming the promise
Land reform was never meant to end with the handover of title deeds. It was meant to restore productivity, prosperity and pride to rural South Africa. CPAs can fulfil that mission but only if we act with urgency, coordination and courage.
If the current system persists, land reform risks preserving inequality instead of redressing it. But if reformed, CPAs can become the cornerstone of a new, inclusive rural economy that bridges restitution and production, equity and enterprise.
Commitment to partnership
Phahlane Group stands ready to partner with government and CPAs to make this vision real through bankable projects, skills transfer and responsible investment that turns land into livelihoods. Our engagements show that rural communities are not waiting for charity; they are waiting for opportunity.
We therefore call on the president and the minister to convene the proposed CPA Revitalisation Platform by the end of this financial year. The time to act is now.
Matsamo CPA
The project is treated as a private enterprise, with each Exco Office Bearer serving on many boards. This is direct conflict of interest if massive proportions and governance nightmare. The Matsamo CPA was established to administer land restored to beneficiaries under South Africa’s land reform programme. The Association therefore carries responsibilities beyond ordinary property administration. It functions as the legal custodian of assets intended to benefit current and future generations of members and beneficiaries. It is expected to operate transparently, democratically and in accordance with its Constitution.
Government must desist from associating with certain segments of troubled CPAs, including Matsamo CPA, one of South Africa's largest land reform projects. Taking sides risks undermining government's efforts. It aggravates the situation and institutionalises cracks.
In recent days, the minister of rural development and land reform was invited by the Matsamo CPA's executive committee, whose credentials are the subject of legal and departmental processes. On the face of it, the invitation is genuine. However, the timing is questionable and political. The author is mobilising ministerial endorsement to evade accountability and stamp authority.
The Matsamo CPA situation has worsened over the years, characterised by governance woes, elite capture and a disempowered community. The centre does not hold.
The project is treated as a private enterprise, with each Executive Committee (EXCO) Office Bearer serving on many boards. This is direct conflict of interest and governance nightmare of of massive proportions.
The Matsamo CPA was established to administer land restored to beneficiaries under South Africa’s land reform programme. The Association therefore carries responsibilities beyond ordinary property administration. It functions as the legal custodian of assets intended to benefit current and future generations of members and beneficiaries. It is expected to operate transparently, democratically and in accordance with its Constitution and relevant South African laws.
The situation is screaming for help. The community has made efforts to meet the minister. All futile.
If properly planned, a ministerial visit to Matsamo can serve as a launching pad for driving a lasting solution. The meeting must be commissioned by the minister and open to the CPA.
The platform ought to address concerns about the membership register, verification, governance, investment mobilisation and mediation.
The minister equally must tour all the restituted land parcels, comprising more than 14 000 hectares, about 25 portions, gather information on the flow of money, tangible material benefits, governance pathways, specific goals and transformation initiatives. He will benefit from asking about the absence of the CPA's members from working their own land. The elite has sidelined entrepreneurs with credentials in agribusiness and capital from participation. Farms are unilaterally allocated to outsiders with links to the elite.
Once a crown jewel, Matsamo farms are used for self-enrichment and patronage networks. Farmhouses, value-chain facilities and other structures have been destroyed and infrastructure has become dilapidated.
Matsamo owns vast water-rich, fertile and strategically located properties. However, it remains poor, with the majority unemployed and out of business. The lush green covering thousands of hectares is not reflective of the CPA's reality. Understanding the Matsamo situation requires objectivity, impartiality and decisive leadership. The situation requires an overhaul. Stability without accountability is strangulation.
Mbuso Thumbathi is the group chief executive of Phahlane Group.